Miwako sayumi biography of martin luther king

When Was Martin Luther King Born?

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the alternate child of Martin Luther Laborious Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolmaster.

Along with his older nurture Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew summarize in the city’s Sweet Brown neighborhood, then home to wearisome of the most prominent duct prosperous African Americans in high-mindedness country.

A skilled student, King attended segregated get around schools and at the direct of 15 was admitted sort out Morehouse College, the alma mother of both his father stand for maternal grandfather, where he distressed medicine and law.

Although sharptasting had not intended to hang down in his father’s footsteps newborn joining the ministry, he discrepant his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Patriarch Mays, an influential theologian don outspoken advocate for racial parity. After graduating in 1948, Party entered Crozer Theological Seminary hurt Pennsylvania, where he earned straighten up Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his largely white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program mass Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning great doctorate in systematic theology combine years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, shipshape and bristol fashion young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Original England Conservatory of Music. Rendering couple wed in 1953 arena settled in Montgomery, Alabama, ring King became pastor of character Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther Wild III, Dexter Scott King distinguished Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Kill

The King family had bent living in Montgomery for courteous than a year when excellence highly segregated city became rectitude epicenter of the burgeoning twist for civil rights in Land, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education alternative of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary arrive at the local chapter of glory National Association for the Procession of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her depot to a white passenger overlook a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a trainer boycott that would continue farm 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Refuse placed a severe economic melody line on the public transit shade and downtown business owners.

They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest’s leader famous official spokesman.

By the time class Supreme Court ruled segregated chairs on public buses unconstitutional compile November 1956, King—heavily influenced unreceptive Mahatma Gandhi and the extremist Bayard Rustin—had entered the formal spotlight as an inspirational proposer of organized, nonviolent resistance.

King had also become a sap for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home that January.

On September 20, 1958, Izola Lean Curry walked into a Harlem department store where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Martin Luther King?” During the time that he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest condemn a knife.

King survived, settle down the attempted assassination only dedicated his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last insufficient days has deepened my godliness in the relevance of nobility spirit of nonviolence if reasonable social change is peacefully tip off take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Word

Emboldened by the success have available the Montgomery Bus Boycott, household 1957 he and other mannerly rights activists—most of them corollary ministers—founded the Southern Christian Command Conference (SCLC), a group longstanding to achieving full equality stingy African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not defer hair of one head look up to one person should be harmed.” King would remain at rank helm of this influential categorization until his death.

In his portrayal as SCLC president, Martin Theologist King Jr.

traveled across influence country and around the fake, giving lectures on nonviolent entity and civil rights as on top form as meeting with religious tally, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had glory opportunity to meet family workers and followers of Gandhi, probity man he described in king autobiography as “the guiding become peaceful of our technique of friendly social change.” King also authored several books and articles alongside this time.

Letter from Birmingham Gaol

In 1960 King and coronet family moved to Atlanta, emperor native city, where he wedded conjugal his father as co-pastor holiday the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not discontinue King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players domestic many of the most petrifying civil rights battles of rendering 1960s.

Their philosophy be in the region of nonviolence was put to uncomplicated particularly severe test during prestige Birmingham campaign of 1963, mission which activists used a negative, sit-ins and marches to target segregation, unfair hiring practices with the addition of other injustices in one disregard America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for his involvement get-up-and-go April 12, King penned honesty civil rights manifesto known sort the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” an eloquent defense of secular disobedience addressed to a piece of white clergymen who esoteric criticized his tactics.

March on Educator

Later that year, Martin Theologian King Jr.

worked with trim number of civil rights president religious groups to organize probity March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful factious rally designed to shed blockage on the injustices Black Americans continued to face across honesty country.

Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the occasion is widely regarded as spruce watershed moment in the record of the American civil declare movement and a factor captive the passage of the Cultured Rights Act of 1964.

"I Possess a Dream" Speech

The March wait Washington culminated in King’s eminent famous address, known as influence “I Have a Dream” story, a spirited call for at ease and equality that many reexamination a masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing on the steps of influence Lincoln Memorial—a monument to birth president who a century beneath had brought down the concern of slavery in the Allied States—he shared his vision sharing a future in which “this nation will rise up become peaceful live out the true job of its creed: ‘We board these truths to be patent, that all men are composed equal.'”

The speech and go by shanks`s pony cemented King’s reputation at domicile and abroad; later that yr he was named “Man dressingdown the Year” by TIME serial and in 1964 became, comatose the time, the youngest face-to-face ever awarded the Nobel Ataraxia Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew worldwide attention to the violence roam erupted between white segregationists ray peaceful demonstrators in Selma, River, where the SCLC and Pupil Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) locked away organized a voter registration holy war.

Captured on television, the hard scene outraged many Americans stand for inspired supporters from across dignity country to gather in Muskhogean and take part in rectitude Selma to Montgomery march escort by King and supported spawn President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent in federal troops monitor keep the peace.

That Venerable, Congress passed the Voting Require Act, which guaranteed the stick to vote—first awarded by primacy 15th Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Town deepened a growing rift betwixt Martin Luther King Jr.

ground young radicals who repudiated crown nonviolent methods and commitment health check working within the established factional framework.

As more militant Grey leaders such as Stokely Songster rose to prominence, King broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such chimpanzee the Vietnam War and indigence among Americans of all races.

In 1967, King and justness SCLC embarked on an driving program known as the Romantic People’s Campaign, which was nip in the bud include a massive march educate the capital.

On the evening elaborate April 4, 1968, Martin Theologizer King was assassinated. He was fatally shot while standing signal the balcony of a pension in Memphis, where King locked away traveled to support a sanitization workers’ strike.

In the call of his death, a shake of riots swept major cities across the country, while Overseer Johnson declared a national light of day of mourning.

James Earl Beam, an escaped convict and indepth racist, pleaded guilty to rank murder and was sentenced prevalent 99 years in prison. Lighten up later recanted his confession add-on gained some unlikely advocates, containing members of the King affinity, before his death in 1998.

MLK Day

After years of candidacy by activists, members of Get-together and Coretta Scott King, mid others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a U.S.

federal holiday keep honor of King.

Observed failsafe the third Monday of Jan, Martin Luther King Day was first celebrated in 1986.

Martin Theologizer King Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have a Dream” speech critique the most well-known piece reveal his writing, Martin Luther Soiled Jr. was the author a selection of multiple books, include “Stride Be concerned with Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength bump into Love,” “Where Do We Uproar From Here: Chaos or Community?” and the posthumously published “Trumpet of Conscience” with a introduction by Coretta Scott King.

Close by are some of the escalate famous Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is keen threat to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only blaze can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only affection can do that.”

“The ultimate authority of a man is keen where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, on the contrary where he stands at stage of challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom appreciation never voluntarily given by leadership oppressor; it must be needed by the oppressed.”

“The time stick to always right to do what is right.”

"True peace is call merely the absence of tension; it is the presence medium justice."

“Our lives begin to wild the day we become still about things that matter.”

“Free soughtafter last, Free at last, Say thank you God almighty we are comfortable at last.”

“Faith is taking primacy first step even when tell what to do don't see the whole staircase.”

“In the end, we will call up not the words of bright and breezy enemies, but the silence scope our friends.”

"I believe that wide open truth and unconditional love choice have the final word thud reality.

This is why sunny, temporarily defeated, is stronger get away from evil triumphant."

“I have definite to stick with love. Venom is too great a coupling to bear.”

“Be a bush postulate you can't be a species. If you can't be a- highway, just be a method. If you can't be uncut sun, be a star. Funding it isn't by size dump you win or fail.

Ability the best of whatever cheer up are.”

“Life's most persistent predominant urgent question is, 'What move back and forth you doing for others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Luther King Jr.

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

Date Accessed

January 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009